Cherry Time
Oxbow Brewing Company

neat beer from oxbow here, tart, from both ferment and the cherries, light to drink, a little less mature and funky than my favorite beers they make, but strong on the fruit and fun for summer, always a joy to drink beer from oxbow! this has a soft reddish hue but still looks light in the glass, a low orange tinted glow, a little pink, and a short lived white head from the tap, a touch of haze on it. the nose is a bit bacterial and tannic, sharp from the fruit and from the souring, its mouthwatering and piquant, and has notes of red rose, hibiscus, cranberry, raspberry, and lemon, along with the obvious cherry, summery and without a lot of grain in the mix to me. the flavor is juicy cherry with nice pucker and just a little sweetness from the fruit, a light cereal under layer, and some mild funkiness too, although less bretty than their most exciting brews. i get some rocky slate in this, an almost brine like mineral profile as it warms, and a pinot noir type thin red wine note, maybe faint cinnamon or allspice too. not overly complex, quite sour, but also really tasty, fruit forward and fun. id love to try this from the bottle, i could see the bottle conditioning really vitalizing the texture. enjoyed this with a bowl of mussels!

 

Glass into Goblet
Look: Hazy pink-red color pouring a 1/2 =finger head which dissipated into a thin ring and light lacing
Smell: Tart cherry juice, light yeast, fruit punch
Taste: Light-medium tartness with a hint of fruit punch. Fades sour and musty yeast funk. Finish is yeast, grain, fruit punch
Feel: Light-medium body with a crisp finish
Overall: Its good, not much cherry there though. More like fruit punch.

Bottle from Beer Wine Nation
Pours a dark pink light red color with a pink tinted bubbly head that persists. Rich cherry aroma and flavor with some earthy and bretty character with some lactic tartness to round this out. Pretty nice mixed saison.